Jury shown chilling footage of alleged Hainault attacker unboxing samurai sword used in killing of teen

10 June 2025, 17:05 | Updated: 10 June 2025, 18:40

A court has been shown chilling footage of a man accused of a fatal sword attack which left a 14-year-old dead filming himself unboxing the deadly weapon used in the attack.

Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, is accused of murdering teenager Daniel Anjorin and attempting to kill four others during a 20-minute series of attacks in Hainault, north east London, on April 30 last year.

He denies all charges.

In the disturbing video, Monzo gasps and exhales as he unwraps the samurai sword.

The Spanish-Brazilian national, from Newham, east London, then says "Oh my god" as he shows it to the camera.

Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown the footage which was recovered from his iPhone after his arrest.

Footage shows Marcus Arduini Monzo unpacking sword

On Monday, jurors were shown CCTV of the first alleged attack, which showed Monzo's grey Ford Transit mounting the pavement and hitting Donato Iwule, a Co-op security guard on his way to work.

Footage captured Mr Iwule screaming in agony as he was struck by the van before it collided with a house. Monzo is then seen exiting the vehicle and walking after him while brandishing a sword.

Giving evidence, Mr Iwule said: "I thought I was dying."

He told the court he tried to escape into a nearby garden but was struck on his knee, face and shoulder and knocked to the ground.

He said Monzo got out of the van, pulled a sword from a cover "right in front of my face" and threw the cover aside.

"I said 'I don't know you'... I said it multiple times," Mr Iwule told prosecutor Tom Little KC.

"He said 'I don't care - I'm going to kill you'."

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Mr Iwule said he tried to defend himself and raised his arms but Monzo swung the sword, catching him on the neck.

"I saw blood coming out of my neck," he said.

"I pressed my thumb to not bleed out... I shouted 'God is greatest' in Arabic - because I'm Muslim.

"When that happened, he was smiling like it was something that he was happy about."

Mr Iwule said Monzo became distracted and he jumped over a fence to escape, later shouting at a schoolboy, believed to be Daniel, to go back inside.

'Near-decapitation'

Daniel was wearing headphones and school sports clothes when he left home for school at 7am and was "slain" by Monzo, Mr Little claimed.

The schoolboy sustained a "devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury to the left hand side of his face and neck" from the sword, the prosecutor added.

Mr Little described the wound as "essentially a near-decapitation".

Emergency services were called and police and paramedics arrived "at the point and just after" the alleged attack.

Pc Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield pursued the armed defendant through a series of alleyways through residential properties, the court heard.

Monzo struck her three times with the sword that had a 60cm blade using "extreme force", the prosecutor said.

She sustained "significant injuries" that could have "easily" killed her, he added.

'Mad'

Witness Nathan Hutchinson, another Co-op employee told jurors he saw Monzo emerge from bushes holding a sword with both hands.

"He looked a bit mad, like there was nothing there - his eyes were black," Mr Hutchinson said.

"He was muttering some words like: 'You are going to die.'"

Mr Hutchinson said the weapon was held "upright in a way to strike" and that he fled after seeing how close Monzo was.

Monzo, whose van was smoking, then called the fire brigade.

In the 999 recording played to jurors, he told the operator: "My van is on fire."

When asked to confirm his location, he passed the phone to a passer-by, later identified as Aiste Dabansinskaite, who briefly spoke to the operator.

She could then be overheard telling Monzo: "Stop touching me. Don't do that," before handing the phone back to him.

Monzo later told the operator: "It's not on fire actually... I require support. Do you believe in God?"

He added: "I need to save somebody... I trust the fire brigade more than the police."

After the call ended, Ms Dabansinskaite said he then drew a sword from behind his back and stepped on to her toes.

"I stepped back and ran down the road," she said.

Ms Dabansinskaite said that moments later, she saw her neighbour Daniel walking towards her, with Monzo following close behind.

"I saw the man following Daniel and then he struck him - with his sword, with his right hand, in a downwards motion," she said.

"Daniel fell to the floor."

Ms Dabansinskaite added: "I saw the man stab the sword into Daniel's back," before he took the boy's backpack.

She said that when police arrived, Monzo was "waving the sword about" and prevented officers from reaching Daniel.